Joe Volk (middle) joined Mark Angelini (left), the president of Mercy Housing Lakefront, at the town hall.
Homelessness is hard to track with a statistic or number, but for years Wisconsin has been at the bottom of the barrel when it comes to providing state resources for the homeless. However, new statistics show progress with the number of chronic homeless people in Milwaukee dropping heavily while a new statewide agency has been created to tackle this subject.
The Interagency Council on Homelessness (ICH), created through Wisconsin Act 174 last year, is run by 13 members. Eight serve as the director of agencies that receive state or federal dollars to combat homelessness, such as Workforce Development and Veterans Affairs. Although the budget for the council is only $95,000, they meet quarterly and will “establish and periodically review a statewide policy with the purpose of preventing and ending homelessness in this state,” according to the act.
Joe Volk is one of the individuals hoping this group can create real change. Volk is the executive director of the advocacy group Wisconsin Coalition Against Homelessness (WCAH). Volk held a town hall discussion Wednesday afternoon at Mercy Housing Lakefront, a supportive housing unit for the homeless. Although Volk understood that there is progress being made, he understood that this problem won’t go away overnight.
|
|
“There’s a lot of good people that are suffering, for no fault of their own,” said Volk. “Homelessness is steady… it’s not just a Milwaukee or Madison or an urban issue… it’s a statewide issue.”
Mercy Housing Lakefront – a supportive housing unit for the homeless
The poverty rate in Milwaukee County is at 18%, seven points higher than the state poverty rate. This is something that the WCAH says needs to drop, as they say this problem is worsened by the city’s limited supply of affordable housing.
This is something that the ICH hopes to address, as the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority will be working to provide affordable housing within the council. The act provides a “dollar-for-dollar reduction of federal income taxes owed by owners/investors in qualified projects for tenants whose incomes are at or below 60% of County Median Income.”
Although this is welcome news to Volk, he knows this won’t singlehandedly eliminate the issue. “Housing is the solution, but supportive housing is more important,” he said. Volk also emphasized something that he called “the holy grail” to eliminating this issue—using Medicaid funds to serve homeless people and their families. Fourteen states already have a waiver to be able to do this. Wisconsin will be starting its application at the end of the month.
There were multiple other individuals who serve and work with the homeless across the community at the town hall discussion. One of these individuals was Erin Pechacek, a case manager at Family Promise Waukesha County.
“The increase for services is growing and there is certainly, especially in Waukesha County, not enough services to go around when it comes to housing,” she said. Pechacek said she supports private funding to create more affordable housing. “Dealing with government bureaucracy and cutting through that red tape is a big headache.”
One housing space that has seen growth in Milwaukee is the Mercy Housing Lakefront, which was created with the help of the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority. The mixed-use space was mainly created with the help of low-income housing tax credits. It has 91 units of supportive housing for individuals who are homeless and disabled or at high risk of homelessness in Milwaukee. Developer Mark Angelini, president of Mercy Housing Lakefront, also helped with the development.
Volk will be hosting three more town hall discussions in Green Bay, Appleton and Wausau in the next few weeks. The first town hall in Dodge County boasted a good turnout according to Volk.
However, Volk wants individuals to know that the answer to this question will not come overnight. “We continue to see this being a problem,” he said.
